Wednesday, 14 September 2016

Brayer will buy monsanto for $57 billion in cash

German chemical company Bayer
will fork over $57 billion to buy American seed seller Monsanto. The
all-cash deal — the largest takeover ever by a German company — will create a
firm that has control over more than a quarter of the world’s seeds and
pesticides.

St. Louis-based Monsanto is infamous both for its genetically
modified crops and for being the world’s largest seller of seeds.
Bayer, though best known in the US for its aspirin, has a major pesticide
division, and also biotechnology, plastics, and health segments.

The two have been in talks since early May. Bayer’s offer is $4
billion more than its initial offer. The $128 per-share price is also
up from the original offer of $122 a share. Including debt, the deal is valued
at around $66 billion.

John Colley of Warwick Business School told BBC that
Bayer’s acquisition could lead to higher prices and be a "horror
story" for farmers. The deal could have major political repercussions too:
Monsanto has been under fire for years by various anti-GMO protester sand Europe itself is famously anti-GMO.